Perilous Times and Climate Change
Floods displace thousands more in Ethiopia
by Staff Writers
Addis Ababa (AFP) Sept 6, 2010
Floodwaters have displaced nearly 16,000 people in north-eastern
Ethiopia, the UN said Monday, weeks after thousands of others were
affected in the country's central region.
"Flooding in Afar, caused by the overflow of the Logia River and the
Tendaho dam ... on 27 August, resulted in the displacement of
approximately 15,600 people," the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.
The agency said crops and "livelihood assets" were destroyed, roads
submerged and bridges swept away.
Flash floods sparked by heavy rainfall earlier in August had displaced
more than 11,000 people in the central Amhara region and resulting
mudslides killed 19 there, according to the UN.
UNOCHA has warned that nearly 300,000 people could be affected in
September as torrential rain continues to pound several regions.
Ethiopia, home to over 80 million, is regularly hit by floods.
According to the World Food Programme, more than 183,000 people were
affected in 2007.
In 2006, more than 600 people were killed and a further 300,000
affected by unusually heavy floods that ravaged several regions in the
Horn of Africa country.